Health – Winnipeg Free Press

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling more pistachio-containing products as part of an ongoing salmonella investigation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa is shown on Wednesday, June 26, 2019.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Peace by Chocolate and NuttyHero products added to pistachio recall due to salmonella

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 11:13 AM CST

TORONTO - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added several Peace by Chocolate and NuttyHero products to its ongoing recall of pistachios possibly contaminated with salmonella.

The latest recall published Friday includes Peace by Chocolate bars and assorted chocolates sold across Canada.

They may have been sold individually or as part of a variety pack.

The affected products include Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio and Kunafa Bar, The Peace Maker Specialty Bars, Trans Canada Trail — Peace Seeker, the Classic Box, the Proudly Canadian box and assorted filled chocolates.

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Why ordering takeout or calling the dog walker might lead to a happier relationship

Tracee M. Herbaugh, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Why ordering takeout or calling the dog walker might lead to a happier relationship

Tracee M. Herbaugh, The Associated Press 4 minute read 12:05 AM CST

It turns out, love may benefit from a little less labor.

Couples who spend money on time-saving services — like getting takeout, hiring a housecleaner or calling a dog walker — report greater relationship satisfaction, especially during stressful periods, says Ashley Whillans, a behavioral scientist and professor at Harvard Business School.

Whillans studies the “tradeoffs people make between time and money.”

“When you spend money to save time — hiring an accountant, a babysitter, a cleaner — you feel more control over your life,” she said. “That sense of autonomy boosts well-being.”

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12:05 AM CST

FILE - A couple stands on a jetty as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean in Bal Harbour, Fla., Sept. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Companies can make generic Ozempic as of next week, but don’t expect to get it soon

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Companies can make generic Ozempic as of next week, but don’t expect to get it soon

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:00 PM CST

TORONTO - Drug companies in Canada are allowed to make lower priced generic versions of the blockbuster drug Ozempic as of next week, but experts say patients shouldn't expect it to be available for at least a few months.

As of Dec. 29, Health Canada had received nine submissions seeking approval to make semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, the brand-name diabetes and weight-loss drugs manufactured by Novo Nordisk.

"Health Canada understands that there is considerable interest in lowering costs associated with this highly prescribed drug by introducing generic versions," spokesperson Mark Johnson said in an email to The Canadian Press.

Sandoz Canada, Apotex, Teva Canada, Taro Pharmaceuticals and Aspen Pharmacare Canada have all applied for Health Canada authorization, according to its list of generic submissions.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:00 PM CST

Ozempic is shown at a pharmacy in Toronto on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O'Connal

Grandmother and grandson burn to death in Gaza tent while cooking; Jolie visits Rafah crossing

Wafaa Shurafa, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Grandmother and grandson burn to death in Gaza tent while cooking; Jolie visits Rafah crossing

Wafaa Shurafa, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:20 PM CST

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson burned to death in Gaza when their tent caught fire while cooking, as thousands of Palestinians endure colder weather in makeshift housing.

The nylon tent in Yarmouk caught fire Thursday night while a meal was being prepared, a neighbor said. A hospital official said that two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli gunfire on Friday in Gaza.

The shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli forces, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control.

On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:20 PM CST

Magdi Abu Al-Khair bids farewell to his mother, Amal Abu Al-Khair, after she and her grandchild, Saud, were killed when their tent caught fire overnight at the Yarmouk displacement camp, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

‘Best gift’: Quebec hospitals and parents welcome first babies born in 2026

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

‘Best gift’: Quebec hospitals and parents welcome first babies born in 2026

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

MONTREAL - One of Quebec's first babies of 2026 was born right at the stroke of midnight.

The regional health authority for the Montérégie-Ouest region announced that baby Anaïah was born at exactly 12 a.m. at the Suroît hospital in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and that she and her mother Michèle are doing well.

Quebec hospitals are announcing the birth of their New Year's babies, some of whom were born while fireworks displays were still going off around the province.

In Quebec City, little Lessy-Ann entered the world at 12:02 a.m., weighing 3,970 grams and measuring 51.5 centimetres.

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Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

Alyson Brown-Tremblay poses with her daughter, Lessy-Ann, in a January 1, 2026, handout photo. Lessy-Ann was born two minutes after midnight at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval in Quebec City, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval (Mandatory Credit)

B.C.’s first baby in 2026 was born in Kelowna General Hospital at 12:18 a.m.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

B.C.’s first baby in 2026 was born in Kelowna General Hospital at 12:18 a.m.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

VICTORIA - The British Columbia government says the province's first baby of 2026 was born in Kelowna General Hospital at 12:18 a.m., but won't release other details.

A post on social media says the baby was born weighing six pounds, eight ounces, but a spokesperson for Interior Health says it cannot provide any more details such as the child's sex or name because the parents did not provide their consent.

A spokesperson for Fraser Health says the first baby in the region was born at 12:53 a.m. at Ridge Meadows Hospital, weighing eight ounces and three pounds.

Vancouver Coastal Health says a baby boy was the first child born in that health region, arriving at 1:30 a.m. in the Richmond Birth Centre to parents Haruna and Jian Suzuki, and weighing seven pounds, eleven ounces.

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Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

British Columbia's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa on July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Federal employees file complaint against Trump administration’s ban on gender-affirming care

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Federal employees file complaint against Trump administration’s ban on gender-affirming care

The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is facing a new legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs.

The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in response to an August announcement from the Office of Personnel Management that it would no longer cover “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions” in health insurance programs for federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers.

The complaint argues that denying coverage of gender-affirming care is sex-based discrimination and asks the personnel office to rescind the policy.

“This policy is not about cost or care — it is about driving transgender people and people with transgender spouses, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce,” Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson said in a statement announcing the move.

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Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

FILE - Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought speaks to reporters at the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

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Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes

Ali Swenson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes

Ali Swenson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.

Democrats forced a 43-day government shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for a solution to save their 2026 political aspirations. President Donald Trump floated a way out, only to back off after conservative backlash.

In the end, no one’s efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date. A House vote expected in January could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed.

The change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who don’t get their health insurance from an employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare — a group that includes many self-employed workers, small business owners, farmers and ranchers.

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Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

FILE - Pages from the U.S. Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on a computer screen in New York, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

Wrong patient sent to Surrey, B.C., home after hospital discharge

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Wrong patient sent to Surrey, B.C., home after hospital discharge

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

A resident of Surrey, B.C., who was shocked when a hospital transfer service delivered a confused stranger to his home, instead of his father, says he doesn't want other seniors to experience the same trauma.

Sunny Hundal said his 84-year-old father, who was in Surrey Memorial Hospital after suffering breathing problems, was supposed to be sent back to their home on Dec. 22.

But while he and his father were waiting at the hospital for the transfer, Hundal got a call from his wife saying the transfer vehicle had already turned up outside their Surrey house and was dropping off a stranger.

Hundal said the elderly man was in a wheelchair and appeared confused, was unable to speak, and was dressed in a thin hospital gown.

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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

An entrance to Surrey Memorial Hospital is pictured from a roof top in Surrey, B.C., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Appeals court says Medicaid funding cuts for Planned Parenthood can stand while lawsuit proceeds

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Appeals court says Medicaid funding cuts for Planned Parenthood can stand while lawsuit proceeds

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Trump administration can continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers that provide abortions as a coalition of mostly Democratic states challenges the cuts, a federal appeals court ruled.

The decision on Tuesday is one of multiple lawsuits filed after President Donald Trump signed tax breaks and spending cuts legislation in July that eliminated Medicaid reimbursement for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers that received more than $800,000 in 2023. The lawsuits include two filed in Massachusetts by 21 states and the District of Columbia and Planned Parenthood itself, and a third filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics there.

In the Massachusetts cases, a federal judge issued separate preliminary injunctions siding with Planned Parenthood in July and the coalition of states in early December. But an appeals court overturned the first order on Dec. 12 and put the second on hold Tuesday.

“Although we are disappointed in the court’s decision, we remain committed to holding the federal administration accountable and ensuring vulnerable Californians can access the health care they need,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement.

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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

FILE - Vanessa Shields-Haas, a nurse practitioner, walks from the lobby toward the examination rooms at the Maine Family Planning healthcare facility, July 15, 2025, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Montreal polar plunge fans want access to beach along St. Lawrence River

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Montreal polar plunge fans want access to beach along St. Lawrence River

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

MONTRÉAL - On New Year's Eve morning in Montreal, Mark Nikiforov sawed a hole into the thick sheet of ice capping the St. Lawrence River, preparing to plunge inside.

With temperatures hovering around -13 C — feeling colder than -20 with the wind chill — Nikiforov and about a dozen others stripped down to bathing suits, toques and gloves, and lowered themselves into the water.

"The more you actually do it, the less cold you will feel," said Nikiforov, who wore a large furry hat and went into the water last, after supervising the first-timers.

"For me personally, it's also something to do in the winter season that helps to withstand (the cold), to feel better."

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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

Turkey detains 125 more Islamic State suspects as nationwide sweep continues

The Associated Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities on Wednesday pressed ahead with nationwide operations against suspected Islamic State members, detaining 125 people in simultaneous raids across 25 provinces.

In the past week, police have taken hundreds of IS suspects into custody in nationwide raids aimed at preventing possible attacks during Christmas and New Year festivities

Members of a suspected IS cell opened fire on police carrying out one such raid in the northwestern province of Yalova on Monday. Six IS suspects and three police officers were killed in the clash, while eight other officers and a night guard were wounded when security forces stormed a house used as a hideout. Authorities said all of the militants were Turkish citizens.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Wednesday’s raids were coordinated by police and gendarmerie forces and were carried out in cities including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Yalova.

Pakistan’s polio cases fell by half in 2025 despite attacks on vaccination teams

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Pakistan’s polio cases fell by half in 2025 despite attacks on vaccination teams

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan reported fewer than half as many cases of polio in 2025 than the previous year, a sign of progress in its eradication campaign even as vaccinators faced repeated militant attacks, according to a statement from the government-run Polio Eradication Initiative.

The announcement came two weeks after Pakistan launched its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, targeting 45 million children.

Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, told The Associated Press that authorities reported 30 cases of the potentially paralyzing disease in 2025, down from 74 a year earlier.

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in which polio has not been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization.

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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

If someone’s always late, is it time blindness, or are they just being rude?

Albert Stumm, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

If someone’s always late, is it time blindness, or are they just being rude?

Albert Stumm, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

Even as a kid, Alice Lovatt was always getting in trouble for being late.

She was often embarrassed after letting down friends for her tardiness, and she was routinely stressed about arriving at school on time.

“I just don’t seem to have that clock that ticks by in my head,” said Lovatt, a musician and group-home worker in Liverpool, England.

It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with ADHD at 22 that she learned she was experiencing a symptom sometimes called "time blindness."

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Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

FILE - Commuters walk along a corridor in the World Trade Center, Monday, Nov. 18, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Flu is rising rapidly, driven by a new variant. Here’s what to know

Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Flu is rising rapidly, driven by a new variant. Here’s what to know

Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Flu is rising rapidly across the U.S., driven by a new variant of the virus — and cases are expected to keep growing with holiday travel.

That variant, known as “subclade K,” led to early outbreaks in the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. In the U.S., flu typically begins its winter march in December. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported high or very high levels of illness in more than half the states.

The CDC estimated there have been at least 7.5 million illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from flu so far this season. That includes at least eight child deaths — and is based on data as of Dec. 20, before major holiday gatherings.

Some states are particularly hard-hit. New York’s health department said the week ending Dec. 20 marked the most flu cases the state had recorded in a single week since 2004: 71,000.

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Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

FILE - A certified medical assistant holds a syringe for a flu vaccine at a clinic in Seattle, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

US commits $480m in health funding to Ivory Coast, the latest to sign ‘America First’ health deals

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

US commits $480m in health funding to Ivory Coast, the latest to sign ‘America First’ health deals

The Associated Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — The United States and Ivory Coast signed a health deal Tuesday requiring the U.S. to commit $480 million to the West African nation’s health sector as part of “America First” global health funding pacts that mirror the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

The signing in Ivory Coast’s capital of Abidjan covers areas such as HIV, malaria, maternal and child health, and global health security. It is the latest agreement the U.S. has entered with more than a dozen African countries, most of them hit by U.S. aid cuts, including Ivory Coast.

U.S. aid cuts have crippled health systems across the developing world, including in Africa, where many countries relied on the funding for crucial programs, including those responding to outbreaks of disease.

The new health pact is based on the principle of shared responsibility with Ivory Coast committing to provide up to 163 billion CFA francs ($292 million) by 2030, representing 60% of the overall commitment, according to Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé.

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Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025

January 3, 2026

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